Connected: Fate and Faith Prequel
by DellaLynlee
Summary: The kindest words can save you...
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, dudes, I don't think I'm finishing _Here and There_. I wrote out about a chapter and a half more, but I'm too lazy to type it out. If you guys want, I'll scan the pages into my family's main computer and post the pics onto tumblr. But if anyone wants to continue it on, you have my blessing. I'm just not in my Doctor Who/Professor Layton phase anymore. I'm more on an X-Men kick, which is the reason for this story.**

**So, this a Kurt Wagner fanfic. As of timeline... I'll let you figure that out as you read.**

Chapter 1-

I know I'm hearing something, something weird downstairs. It sounds as if someone's looking through something. Normally I'd sleep through it, but there's this annoying light flooding through the crack under my door.

Finally, I can't stand it any longer. _Oh Dad_, I think as I'm sneaking out of my room. _Your midnight snacking has gone way out of control._

I can see the light's coming from the refrigerator.

"Ugh," I say as I reach the bottom. "Turn the damned light out-"

The figure in front of the fridge turns around. It's not Dad, but a boy, about my age. I then notice a dark cloak thrown on the kitchen table.

I squint. I'm so nearsighted that I need glasses, but not so nearsighted I can wear them all the time, so I normally leave them in the bathroom. I can make out details as the boy comes toward me, such as his height... and his fur... which is blue.

My mind races, and I suddenly remember the news reports:

"_Attention! Mutants are _not_ to be trusted! They threaten the whole of society. They want the Earth to themselves... and will destroy anything that gets in their way,"_

"_Mutants: Next stage of the human race or deadly weapons? Tune in at six,"_

"_We come to you from a home destroyed in the great mutant reveal..."_

"Uh, hello," he says, interrupting my thoughts. He has a slight German accent. "I didn't know anyone was up,"

"Between the light and noise," I say, a bit nervous. "I couldn't sleep,"

He frowns. "I'll get out. Don't freak out. Don't call the cops," he reaches for his cloak.

"Really?" I ask. "That's it?" According to all the news reports, he was supposed to be... scarier. And attack me. I couldn't believe I was still able to stand.

Looking back at me, he says. "Yup, that's it. I got caught. By you. I feel lucky you didn't come downstairs with a gun," he rubs his shoulder, which I suddenly notice it wrapped up with a scarf. "Like at the last house,"

All the news reports in my head disappear. "You're hurt," I say. "Be right back," I run upstairs and to the bathroom, where I know there's a first aid kit. As I'm coming back down with it, he's disappearing out the back door. I notice that if there was no moon light, he would be invisible.

"Wait!" I exclaim. "Don't leave!"

He turns around. As he sees the kit in my hand, his face softens. "You..." he mutters. "You really want to help me,"

"Yes," I reply. There's a part of me that wants to run up to my room and forget this ever happened. I ignore that part of me. I walk toward his and slowly undo the scarf. He flinches as I finger the wound. "...Okay," I finally say. "The bullet only chipped your shoulder, didn't go in. However, shards from the bullet went into your shoulder, so it still hurts like hell," _Saw it on Grey's Anatomy,_ I can't help but think.

He looks up at me. I notice his eyes, which are all yellow. "You're helping me," he says.

I slowly nod, and grab some bandages from the kit. "Yup,"

"_Why?"_

"You're... You're hurt,"

He snorts. "Yeah, right. That's not the reason at all. Are you getting paid for this? Are you being threatened? Are you gonna lock me up and sell me to the government?"

"No!" I exclaim, insulted. That was pretty mean, especially to a girl like me. "I'm helping you cos I wanna help you!"

He looks into my eyes. His gaze is hard, yet soft and weak. "...Really?"

"Really-really," I grab his arm. "Now let me do this,"

He tries to hold still while I work (I can tell), but can't help but flinch when I use the tweezers to get out the shards. "...Do you _have_ to do that?" he eventually asks.

"Otherwise, they'll keep on infecting you and the wound will never heal," I reply. "Besides, it's good practice,"

"For what?" he asks.

I sigh. Could I risk telling a total stranger my biggest dream, which is also my biggest secret? What if he laughs? "I... I... I wanna be a nurse when I'm older," I finally admit, deciding to risk it. "Like... Like Rory Williams,"

He stares at me.

"You know, from-Oh, forget it," I grab some cotton balls as an excuse not to look at him.

"I'm still troubling you," he says. "No matter if this is helping you toward your dream or not. You shouldn't be doing this. I entered your house. I tried to steal your food. I-"

"Am going to stay here," I finish while I wrap his shoulder. Not only am I taking pity on him, I want to monitor his shoulder to see how it does.

"I can't let you do that for me," he says. "I'm not going to stay here.

"Where are you going to go?" I ask. It's cruel, but I want him to accept my help. "If you're resorting to breaking into people's houses to get food and stuff, you need someone to give you some help."

He sighs. "...A few weeks ago, my home was blown up. I just started running and didn't look back. I don't know if any of my friends are okay, or even where they are..." he looks at me. "I'm Kurt, by the way,"

I give him a small smile. "I'm Sara," As we shake hands, I notice he only has three fingers on each hand. Okay. Gonna have to get use to that.

**That's it! There are three references to other franchises. I challenge you to get them all (hint: "Really-really" is the hardest).**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is Chapter 2! Thanks to all the reviews and followers! It really means a lot to me. There are probably going to be more references throughout the story, because I like fitting them in and finding out that people get them. Sorry if you don't get them. If you insert that fact into your chapter review, I'll reply and explain.**

Chapter 2

I can't ignore the increasing light coming from the window and finally wake up. Yup, Kurt is still there, in the corner, sleeping like a baby. This wasn't another crazy dream.

Memories of last night flood my mind...

SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER

We sneak up the stairs and into my room.

"This is pretty nice," he says on the way up. "My old home was much bigger than this, but I like small homes better than big,"

"Shush!" I whisper. "My dad's asleep!"

"What about your mom?" he asks.

I stop. By now, I'm opening the door to my room. I know it was a simple question, but it's one I've had to suffer through my entire life. "Just... Just get in here," I mutter.

He walks into my room. "Sorry," he says as he passes.

I frown as I shut the door. "About what?"

He shrugs. "About everything. But mostly by my question. I now realize it was too nosy,"

"No, no..." I say as I lean against the door. "You have every right to ask, and since you're going to be staying here, I might as well tell you..."

He sits down on my bed. "Is she dead?"

"What?" I exclaim, momentarily forgetting to whisper. However, my next words are a whisper. "No, no... It would be better..."

He looks at me. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he whispers. It's so sweet, I almost tear up.

Instead, I walk over and sit next to him. "...My mother..." I take a deep breath and prepare to let it all out, something I have told almost no one else. "She was a drug addict. Or at least that's what Dad tells me. I don't really remember her. We all lived together in this house, like a nice, normal family... actually, that's what we were. Then, when I was seven, they divorced. Dad won the court battles. He got me and the house. I haven't seen her since then. I've heard that Dad has a lot of restraining orders against her..."

He gave me a sad face. "That's terrible,"

"Oh, I'm sure you had it rough," I blurt.

"Why? Cos I look like this?" he looks down at himself, then shrugs at me. "I've had problems, but..." he looks away. "...Meh,"

"What?" I ask. "What is it? You can tell me," I'm like a vault: you tell me something you don't want anyone else to know, and I'll take it to my grave.

He's not listening. Instead, he's looking around my room and reading the posters under his breath. "'In light as day, as dark as night, no evil shall escape my sight...' 'Our whole universe was in a hot dense state, nearly fourteen million years ago, expansion started...' 'Once upon a time, God told the animals, "I'm inviting you all to my banquet, so don't be late!"...' 'Looking good never looked so good' 'A neutron walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The bartender says, "For you, no charge!"' 'And... this is why Iggy's not the flock leader.'" Kurt looks at me and smiles. "You've got great taste,"

"Listen to me!" I exclaim. Man, this kid has ADD bad. "I told you my stuff. Now please tell me yours!"

He gives me a weak smile. "Okay, I've had it pretty bad, too," he sighs. "Well, I didn't know my real mother until a few months ago, and I never even met my father..."

As much as I want to pay attention, I notice something behind him (Okay, I have ADD, too, but still). It's hovering right behind his head. A few moments of staring at it, I realize it's the pointed tip... of his tail.

"...What?!" he exclaims, finally noticing my staring.

"Nothing!" I quickly respond. Looking around, I suddenly realize something. "I... I don't have another bed," I admit.

He shrugs. "So? I can sleep on the floor. Better than how I've had it the past few weeks,"

PRESENTLY

I roll back over in my bed. I was so stupid. Why did I think I could hide Kurt from Dad?

**Thank you all again for your support. I was really surprised. This is the quickest a story of mine has got so much attention. I'm honored : D**


	3. Chapter 3

I sneak downstairs, hoping Dad doesn't catch me before the school bus comes. Thanks to Kurt accidentally sleeping on the outfit I set out for today, I had blue fur all over my clothes. Who knew 'the fuzzy dude' (as he likes to call himself) sheds? Anyway, I used the lint roller five times (note to self: get new lint roller before Dad notices), but I'm still nervous, especially because of Dad's keen eye.

"Sara!" I hear him yell as I'm opening the front door. "Oh, damn," I mutter as I slowly close the door and follow the voice, which is coming from the kitchen.

"Damn," I repeat when I see that he's holding a black cloak.

Now, my dad's not the least attractive. If you get past the balding (which he's very good at hiding), he's got a young face with a great smile. He even has a mustache that no one else but a sexy Latino male model could pull off. But when he gets mad... watch out.

"What is this?" he asks, dangling it in the air. I slightly wince when I see that it's covered with blue fur, yet I can't help but think _How'd he miss that?!_

"Uh, a black cloak?" I ask, feigning dumbness.

He glares at me. "Liar. I know-"

"I'm not lying," I interrupt. I've learned that in these kinds of fights, it's best to get the last word. "It really is a black cloak,"

His glare worsened. "Tell me the truth,"

"I am," I meet him with an equally powerful glare, one that says 'I didn't do anything, and you can't prove I did'.

We keep it up, each of us refusing to back down. Finally, he breaks contact to look at his watch. "...Get to school," he mutters, which is his way of saying "You win... for now,"

"So?" Kurt asks as I walk into my bedroom that afternoon.

"Shush," I hold up my index finger while I shut the door, all the while making sure Dad isn't nearby. Putting the finger down, I say "No, I didn't see any of the people you described,"

"Arg!" he angrily punches the air.

I, meanwhile, dump text books I was holding onto my desk, sighing.

"What's that?" he asks, curious.

"My German homework. Oh, why did I ever take that class?"

He perks up. "Let me help you!" he grabs a book.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. You're helping me. Now it's my turn to help you,"

Now, that's sweet.

A few minutes of helping later ("You don't end a sentence in a preposition, even in German," "Okay. So you're _willing_ to call him a giant donkey,") my door starts opening.

"It's my dad!" I hiss. "Hide!"

He dives under my bed.

Sure enough, Dad walks in. He looks around. "So..."

I hold up a paper. "Just working on my German homework."

He snatches the paper. "Whose handwriting is this?" he points to Kurt's small, spiky handwriting, which greatly stood out against my big, loopy cursive.

"A classmate was helping me with a few things," I lie. Not the first time I ever flat-out lied to him, but it certainly wouldn't be the last. Especially if Kurt stays around.

He stares at it. "Sounds like you got help from one of the foreign-exchange students,"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah."

He evilly grins from behind the paper. "Liar. There are no German foreign-exchange students at your school,"

Damn! Hate it when he does that! "Uh, you seriously don't think any of them know German? How stereotypical!"

His eyes widen, which means I have him caught in a place he doesn't want to be. "Uh..."

I point to the door. This is going well. "Get. Out,"

He slowly shuffles out and closes the door behind him. As soon as it clicks, Kurt rolls out from under the bed. His fur is covered with lint.

"_Vunderbar_," he mutters. "Don't you ever dust under there?"

I can't help but giggle.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yeah, I know I didn't put any references in the last chapter (how did _that_ happen?) but there will certainly be some in this chapter. Like I said, I like randomly slipping them in.**

**So I decided that I'm gonna post 1 or 2 chapters a weekend- when I have time to really think to work on chapters. Well, except starting tomorrow, and going til the end of next week. Spring break!**

**And thank you again for all support. Your kind words are what keep me going on with this. I haven't had a hater yet! (Isn't that some sort of record?)**

I soon fell into a routine: go to school, come home, hang out with Kurt, deceive Dad, repeat. I started not being able to remember a time when I wasn't around Kurt. We spent more and more time together, and we learned all about each other. I didn't have many friends before, but they soon slipped away. An unofficial rule was set in place in my mind: no friends over. Two or three girls in my room for a couple hours would probably result in one mutant being exposed. In fact, I would be surprised if it _didn't_ happen (yet I'm still not risking it).

So imagine my surprise when, that weekend, I start to open the front door and hear "I need to speak with Kurt,"

Before I can answer, or even get a look at the guy, Dad appears behind me from out of no where. "What do you want?" he asks. He tries to push me away, but I push him back. He really thinks I'd miss this? Has he met me?

"I need to speak with Kurt," the guy behind the door repeats. One thing I not is his voice- elegant, yet sounding like he's seen things he wishes he could un-see. I know the feeling. That's how I knew his voice.

The door starts to open but Dad keeps it shut by flinging himself against it. "There is no one here by that name," he (Dad) says, sounding a bit nervous. 'Go!' he mouths to me, pointing upstairs to my bedroom. I shake my head no. Who does he think he is? Doesn't he remember that I don't respond to canine commands?

The door finally closes, and I hear someone leaving.

Meanwhile, Dad is ticked. He starts walking out of the room with a determined look on his face. I just know he's heading up to my room.

Running and taking three steps at a time, I pass him on the stairs and fling myself against my bedroom door. I give it three sharp knocks, which is our code for 'hide'. (It's amazing what happens when you put two bored people in a room together)

However, shockingly, Dad just goes into his room and slams the door. Hard. Someone's 'Mr Grumpy Face' today.

I give the door a long knock, which means 'coast is clear', and cautiously go in. Dad may be pulling an act, so I could never be sure.

Kurt is getting up. "What the heck was that about?" he asks, dusting himself off (Note to self: remember to dust under there soon).

I shrug. "Dunno. You'd think he just lost the Ponds,"

He rolls his eyes. He's gotten over my strange references. "Not that. At the front door!"

"_Oh._ There was this guy, asking for you-"

I was going to ask "Are you being stalked?", but Kurt cuts me off by running across the room and peeking through the blinds. "Rats, they're gone," he mutters.

"Who?" I ask.

He turns to me, and hangs his head. "...My friends," he mutters. "They probably tracked me down. Now they're gonna think I was kidnapped and am being held against my will..."

"What's gonna happen?" I ask. "Are they gonna kick the door down? Get Dad? Question me to death?"

He shakes his head. "Nope. Unless one of the kids gets a small group together, they're just gonna lie low. And the kids' schemes usually fail," he looks back to the window. "Hopefully I can get back to them soon..."

I look at him sympathetically. Why did this have to happen? I took him in, and Dad is keeping him from reuniting with his friends...


	5. Chapter 5

"Stop it," Kurt says as I pace. He's sitting on my bed, swinging his legs back and forth. You'd think this is a day like any other, by how normal he's acting (and believe me, I've known him long enough to know his normal). "He's okay," His face is a little caring, but otherwise blank, which is the reason I can't "stop it".

"You don't know that! He could be dead in a ditch somewhere!" I exclaim, continuing to pace at top speeds, despite his earlier warning ("You're going to wear out the floor and find yourself in the kitchen if you keep that up,") Okay, I'm a bit over-dramatic right now, but I have reason!

"You're right, I don't know," he sighs, still swinging. I swear, I hate it when he does that. "But I _do_ know that he's probably not dead in a ditch,"

"You're right... he wears his seat belt. He'd still be in his car,"

"Sara!" he exclaims, annoyed. "This can't be the first time he's been late,"

"Oh, sure," I go over to the window and peek out the blinds for the millionth time. "Five, ten minutes late... not a whole hour! And he didn't even call!"

"What do you mean, call?" he lies down on my bed, interested. (Then again, the 'interested' could come from the fact I just started posting Torchwood and SJA posters on my ceiling. He seems to like that stuff.) That meant I would have to take the vacuum to it later.

"I mean CALL! He usually calls to say he's going to be late, then he calls saying he _is_ late, and there usually there's a third call saying he's on his way home," I sit down in my desk chair, still looking through the blinds. "I didn't even get my 'I'm late' call," I pout.

He gets up and walks over. Slowly taking my hand away from the blinds, he leans over and says "You need to stop worrying,"

"If I could, I would, but I can't, so I shant," I continue to stare at the window, although I can't see out of it.

He helps me get up. "You really need to stop worrying. Get involved with something. Read a book, go online, write a story. Just do something. Before you know it, the time will fly and he'll come home, saying that he's sorry, but his phone battery was dead," he walks me out of the room and down the stairs. "Meanwhile, I'm gonna do what I always do when he's not home and get myself a snack." he sits me down at the kitchen table while he goes through the pantry (which I've repeatedly had to cover him over thanks to our rapidly decreasing chip stash). "You better do something,"

I put my head on the table. "Here's the thing," I say to the tabletop. "I _can't_ do anything. Not until I know he's okay. I can't concentrate on anything but watching for him to come home. I can't think about anything but if he's okay, or where he is..."

I see Kurt's feet walk over, so I lift my head. "Sara..." he says. "You-"

Just then the phone rings. Before I can even start to react, Kurt grabs it and answers it. "Hello... no, sorry..." he says, his voice very serious. "Bye..." he puts it down.

I jump up. "What?! Is he okay?! Was that the police?! Is he okay?!"

"Nope, wrong number," I can see how hard he's trying not to smirk. Can't he see the seriousness of this situation? Just because he hasn't had parents doesn't give him the right to joke!

I sigh and sit back down. "When is he going to call?" I mutter, terrified and curious at the same time. "I'd give anything if the phone rings and the call tells me where Dad is..."

Just then, the phone rings. I pick it up in one ring, and listen to the police officer, as he gives me the grave news, and tells me the possibilities for the future, all while trying my hardest not to cry in front of Kurt. At the end of the call, I slowly replace the phone and burst into tears. Kurt rushes over and wraps his arms around me. All I can say is...

...be careful what you wish for.

**Okay, that's it. Yes, there will be a sequel (this was more of a prequel of what's to come). No, I won't "flake out" again. This, in fact, was setting up for I have planned.**

**Be on the lookout for 'Beauty', the first in a series to come...**


End file.
